Ex-HMAS Hobart
The Vessel The HMAS Hobart was a Charles F. Adams class guided missile destroyer in the Royal Australia Navy (DDG 39), built in the United States of America and commissioned in 1965 in Boston. Her role was air defence of the fleet. Tours of duty HMAS Hobart completed three tours of duty off Vietnam in 1967, 1968 and 1970. In 1968, two sailors lost their lives and seven others were injured after the vessel was hit by "friendly" fire
The Hobart was sunk in 2003 off Rapid Bay. The Wreck is in 30m of water and is for intermediate to advanced divers only. It is a massive wreck with several decks to explore. Many cut outs have been made to allow light in and safe escape routes for divers. The engine room (unlike the Hobart’s sister ship the Perth) is accessible by divers and when combined with a decent thorugh the mess hall, is a highlight of the dive. Of course looking out over the bridge and sitting on the massive deck guns is also pretty fun!
Stanvac Barges
There are 3 barges at this site, one is 163x29 and the two measure 71 x 49. To really see this sight, you need to anchor in the right spot. At 28m this is an advanced dive and bottom time is restricted. The barges form an artificial reef on an otherwise sandy bottom. Plenty of fish there. Keep your eye out for lost anchors, burley buckets and the odd fishing rod or lost dive gear!
MV Seawolves
The Seawolves was sunk in 2002 in between the Norlunga Tyre Reef and the Lumb, making a very nice trio of dive sites, which can all been seen on one dive. A large chain links the 2 wrecks.
A great dive, the ship lies on it’s side in 20m of water and heaps of fish, cuttlefish and other marine life can be seen.
HA Lumb
Location 25 kms South of Adelaide: Boat dive from O'Sullivans Beach Boat Ramp. Rating Novices
The Lumb was sunk in 1994 specifically as a dive site by the SA dive industry. She lies upright on the bottom 30m west of Noarlunga tyre reef in 20m of water 2.5 km west of Noarlunga jetty. The Lumb started life as a tug working in Tasmania before being used at Port Lincoln. She was refitted as a fishing trawler and used to fish for tuna. At the end of her life she was purchased by the dive industry. She was cleaned up and holes were cut in her deck and she was sunk as a dive site. Penetration are easy and safe as hole were cut allowing easy safe penetration. The main hazards is grease on the wreck and some loose cabling plus some sharp edged metal. Recommended bottom time 35 mins.
The Glenelg Dredge
Location: Glenelg 10km from Adelaide. Boat Dive from West Beach Boat Ramp. Rating: Novice to deck, Advanced to sand
The Glenelg Dreage is an old suction dredge built Holland 1914 sailed out to Australia 1920 .Used to dreage the Port River and Outer Harbour. The wreck was sunk in its current location asan artificial reef by the SA Dept. Of Fisheries early 1985. She lies upright 5-6km west of Glenelg in 20 mertes of water, bow to the south.
She is 35 metres long by 7m wide, deck sitting in 15m. The dredge is home to a wide variety of marine life. The wreck is safe to penetrate into the cabin rooms, the main pump hold though the suction crane on the bow but is unsafe to penetrate behind the boilers in the engine room. The main hazards are rusting metal and silting, and the current. Recommended bottom time: 35min.
The Glenelg Barge
Location: Glenelg 10km from Adelaide. Boat dive from West Beach boat ramp.Rating: Advanced
The Glenelg Barge is a hopper barge used by the Glenelg Dredge to take the silt dredge up from Port river. A star dropper trail has been set up to enable divers to travel from the barge to the dredge and vice Versa in times of low current. The barge is a very interesting wreck with a wide variety of fish. Divers can swim its 30m length with ese. At either end is a small opening where divers can penetrate into the work rooms.
The Norma
Sitting in 18m of water,. the 2,122 tonne, 4 mast barque Norma is within easy access and is a reasonable dive, with some opportunity for creative photography on a good day. When she sank, her masts were just below the surface and caused a number of problems for other boats. Eventually, shipping authorities decided to blow her up to remove the danger to shipping.
Now her remains are spread over quite a large area and apart from the stern section, it is very hard to recognise her as a wreck. Her remains are a maze of iron-work, floors, frames, plating, fittings and masts.
Plenty of fish life on this wreck, heaps of whiting and quite a few Wobbegongs as well. Also a very popular fishing site, many boats around on a nice day.
